Chris Jericho says facing NJPW legend reminded him of working with The Undertaker
Former WWE and AEW champion Chris Jericho recently appeared on an episode of Busted Open Radio. He spoke about his book The Complete List of Jericho. Jericho discussed some of his best matches, including one against NJPW legend Hiroshi Tanahashi.
"The Tanahashi match is one of my top favorite matches in the honorable matches section. That one, kind of came out of nowhere. Tana’s been working almost as long as I have, I think he’s been working twenty-five years. And I’ve always heard of Tanahashi, but I never really knew anything about him. And when I went to New Japan, I only did six matches there, but three of them were headlining the Tokyo Dome. 18 was versus Kenny, 19 was versus Naito and 20 was versus Tanahashi." Chris Jericho said.
He stated that he felt his match with Tanahashi was better compared to his match with Kenny Omega.
"And each one, like, I think my Tanahashi match was even better than the Kenny match, which is the one that everybody talks about because I knew about Kenny. Kenny and I were obviously both from Winnipeg and there was a connection there. Plus we’re both Canadian. But with Tana, I really didn’t know.”
Chris Jericho on how Tanahashi reminded him of The Undertaker
Chris Jericho and The Undertaker have had numerous battles in WWE. They share tremendous respect for each other, with Jericho even dedicating an entire episode to The Undertaker's retirement.
Jericho stated that working with Undertaker was unbelievably good and exclaimed that he felt the same way when he worked with Tanahashi.
“When you get in the ring with him (Tanahashi), wow. He is so good, I’m smiling just thinking about it. What it actually reminded me of was the first time I ever worked with Undertaker, who I did not work with until I had been in the WWE for about ten, twelve years. We just never were on the same show and never really crossed paths. And to be in there with a guy like that was just unbelievable, like ‘oh my gosh it’s all true. It’s true! Everything you hear about The Undertaker is true! He’s really that good.’ And that was the same way I felt about Tanahashi." Chris Jericho said.
Which is your favorite Chris Jericho-Undertaker match? Did you enjoy Jericho vs Tanashi? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Quote (H/T - WrestlingInc)